Thursday, April 5, 2012

The Tonsillectomy

The Tonsillectomy:

As many of you know, I was incredibly nervous about my sons
upcoming Tonsillectomy.

My nerves weren’t too bad until I started doing research to
prepare myself for the upcoming weeks.
Then the horror stories got to me… you know what I’m talking about, the
multiple trips to the ER due to dehydration from not drinking anything, the
waking up from surgery screaming in pain and 10 days later, they are still
screaming in pain, the lack of eating and drinking due to pain and the weight
loss. Mostly it was the weight loss that
scared me, and the dehydration, but I was pretty sure of myself that I could
play boss mommy and “make” him drink even if it did hurt.

To prepare myself for the surgery and the following weeks, I
purchased every sort of medication that was suggested to help different people,
every food that people said they enjoyed while recovering, I got. Every type of material device recommended to
help ease the pain, I acquired through friends and purchases. I went into this surgery as fully prepared
and expecting the worst as humanly possible.

We even read the book “Good-bye Tonsils” as many times as
possible. I was ready. My boy was ready. We were going to conquer this thing and we
were going to come out victorious.

Reading "Good-bye Tonsils" with daddy one last time before leaving for Surgery.

The morning of the surgery, as I’m filling out the forms, I
mistakenly read the “Anesthesia awareness paper” that says I am fully aware
that I could die from having anesthesia.
I about LOST IT! Every ounce of
me that was prepared was ready to pack it up and go home. I was thinking, is the loss of my son’s life
worth the risk? Am I willing to take
that risk on someone else’s life? As I
am responsible for him, he can’t even make his own choices. So yeah, I became pretty freaked and totally
over worried. Why do they even put that
out there?!? I’m going to sue them if
something happens regardless so they might as well not scare you half to death beforehand.

^^Nervous Smile^^

In the waiting room before surgery

vvAnxious Smilevv

Well, despite my worries, we went through with it. The doctors were overly aware of the NO BLOOD
issue. Haha, I think I stated it a bit
too much, but better safe than sorry, right?
After the procedure the dr told me he didn’t even lose 2 tsp of
blood. And the anesthesiologist made it
quite clear that there was not even a thought of needing a BT! That’s what I want to hear! I shared my bag of medicines with the DR and
he got a good laugh out of it. He also said that his Tonsils and Adenoids were HUGE and he was glad that we went through with it.

When they called us back there, everyone was super friendly,
and we prepared ourselves for surgery. E
put on a special gown and I, well, I put on the human marshmallow outfit to got
back with him while he was going under.

They let him color on his “balloon” that he had to blow up for his
anesthesia, and of course he drew sonic J He also got to pick out his favorite scent of chapstick to color all over the breathing mask. I’m
glad that they took the extra time to make it more personal and as easy as
possible for him.

It was so sad to see him go to sleep but I was glad to be in the room with him.

Not even 45 minutes later, they called us back and we joined
him as he awoke from his surgery. There
he was, lying peacefully, snuggling his sonic.
Nurse mommy kicked in and it was all hugs and kisses and popsicles and
juice from then on out.

His surgery bear

He did so well that they let us go home 30 minutes
later. The nurse who checked us out
asked me how long I had been a nurse. I
thought she was joking. So I said, well
I’ve been a mommy for 6 years now! And
she looked at me funny. Then she
clarified that she had been watching me the whole time and really thought that
I was a nurse, because I did “nurse things”, whatever that means! Haha

Shortly after arriving home, daddy left to pick up things
from Costco and Papa arrived to tend to his grandson. So while they snuggled and read on the couch,
I was able to do something that I was unable to do the days before due to
having the ever dreaded stomach bug…you know, things like clean and such.

Reading with Papa after the surgeryHaving chills from the Anesthesia

When daddy arrived back at home, he brought with him a huge
surprise. A Nintendo 3DS! As you can guess, that perked him up very
quickly. You see, as I was searching for
good quiet toys to occupy him and keep him calm in the coming days, the Hubster
said “just get him a video game system!”
Well duuuhh! I hadn’t even
thought about that! So that’s what he
did. And I gave him my gifts: a new lego
set, Phineas & Phurb action figures, and Toy Story action figures (that
coincidentally have no action in them).

Playing with his new favorite toy.

His new Lego house that we built the first night. \The second day we put together his lighthouse that he bought last year.

That first day was pretty hilarious, his voice sounded like
he was constantly sucking on helium! We
snuggled most of the day and it was pretty great. Little did I know, that was the only day that
he felt bad. He slept with me that night
so that I could keep him monitored and he slept through the night and woke up
cheerful and in very little pain. The
coming days was filled with me constantly reminding him to take it easy and to
not overdue himself. I kept up with the pain
meds for the first few days and he has eaten through lots of ice cream,
popsicles, push pops and sorbet. A
friend also suggested cheesecake to keep the fat on him, so he enjoyed that, a
lot. {So did we}

He has had lots of visitors to help cheer him up. Much to their surprise he was not ailing on the couch but full of energy ready to play with his friends! {And I forgot to take pictures!}

Day 2, feeling pretty great!

Stumbled upon their cuddle session. Glad I was able to capture it before they realized what they were doing!

Monday was his first day eating solid food and he was very
anxious. He devoured lots of mild
foods. Tuesday was his first day out of
the house and we joined our friends at the library. He enjoyed that immensely. Last night he spent the night and the
g-parents house. He still says his
throat is a bit sore but that’s quickly mended with ice cream and popsicles.

So all in all, the surgery was a success, and I can proudly
say that even though I’ve sprouted a few new grey hairs from the worrying, I was so
prepared for the worst that I wasn’t prepared for the best. I am so thankful for how well it all turned
out! Already he is sleeping SO much
better and he is more active and aware during the day. Good-bye sleep apnea, hello happy healthy
boy!!

--------------->Tips for those facing a Tonsillectomy<--------------

Don't believe all the horror stories that you read on the internet. But do be prepared.

Recommendations that I found on the net for meds to have on hand: Chloraseptic Throat spray, Saline Solution nose rinse, Tylenol, Pedia-Lax in case of constipation from not eating, prescriptions from Dr.